Recreational aquatic vehicles must be extremely low cost in order to enable them to be commercial viable. In addition, recreational aquatic vehicles must be practically maintenance free and very simple to operate since they are used by a wide variety of people of different ages in often remote locations.
Moulded plastic components are well recognized as being low cost and accurate, however for many mechanical components, the strength and reliability of plastic components is insufficient. In the recreational aquatic vehicle market, the use of plastic components has traditionally been limited to boat hulls, canoes and floats. Metal remains the designer's material of choice when motorized components are used, despite the relatively high cost and weight penalty.
The description of the invention uses a pedal powered aquatic vehicle as an example however, the invention is equally applicable to any recreational aquatic vehicle that does not require external power and is powered either by pedaling action of the passengers. The muscles in the legs on a person are the largest muscle group and the human body is naturally inclined to provide maximum power through the action of the legs.
Submerged propellers used almost exclusively in modern motorized nautical transport. To date however propellers have not been used for recreational non-motorized aquatic vehicles mainly since the associated mechanism is considered too complex, heavy and expensive for commercial viability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drive mechanism for a propeller driven pedal powered aquatic vehicle that can be produced inexpensively enough to render it practical for recreational use.
It is a further object of the invention to provide pedal powered drive means for an aquatic vehicle which can be produced using conventional plastic moulding techniques.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an easily maintained mechanism for a pedal powered aquatic vehicle which can be ridden in a manner similar to a bicycle wherein the passenger straddles the vehicle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a propeller driven mechanism that is not subject to accidental damage during normally expected handling by unskilled operators.
Further objects of the invention will be apparent from review of the disclosure and description of the invention below.